LETTER: Chemical poisoning poses dire threat to Earth

All the diverse and often dramatic statements about warming and rising sea levels are baffling. I’m not the least worried about it, but am scared silly by the poisoning of the Earth. Not carbon dioxide pollution but complex chemicals of man’s creation that the Earth has never seen before.

The spring peepers — frogs — used to serenade us every year. They are silent now. Frogs are the canaries in the coal mine. All over the Earth they are dying or displaying mutant deformities.

Honeybees, bats and starfish are dying off. Their disappearance has in some cases been attributed to disease, but what made them vulnerable to disease and why now, all at once?

The magic of chemistry, which has created so much in our modern world, is also poisoning the Earth. We’ve gotten too smart for our own good.

The scary question is: When is our turn? Will there be a pandemic facilitated by changes to our body chemistry?

Global warming will allow decreased use of energy to heat buildings and prolonged growing seasons in temperate regions. More food and less energy use.

Sea levels will rise. We can adapt to water levels, but once our body chemistry is damaged, we may not. As a species, we may not be around to see rising waters.

Congress should fund comprehensive studies of all pollution. If it is serious about reducing carbon dioxide, it can simply levy a federal tax on all new gas-guzzlers.